Improvement in thill-supporters



W.- SMITH. Thill-Suppprter.

No. 209,931. Pat ent ed Nov. 12,1878.

N.PEIERS. PHoTo-LITMOGRAPHER. WASHINGTON. D C.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM SMITH, OF OARMI, ILLINOIS.

IMPROVEMENT lN THlLL-SUPPORTERS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 209,931, dated November 12, 1878; application filed October 18, 1878.

It consists in a supporting-arm provided with a clamp, by which it can be attached to the spring of the vehicle on which it is'to be used, and an adjustable bar to secure the thills in a raised position.

In the accompanyin g drawings, forming part of this specification, Figure 1 represents a side view of a thill-supporter constructed according to my invention, and Fig. 2 shows a similar view on a smaller scale applied to a vehicle as in use.

A represents an arm, which should be of such shape as to suit the carriage to which it is to be applied. It is provided with a clamp, B, having an arm, 0, at right angles thereto, threaded for about 0ne-half of its length to receive the nuts D D, by which it is secured in a hole in the arm A.

A bolt, E, having a nut, F, is passed through holes in the lower part of the arm A and clamp B, by means of which and the nuts D D the clamp may be adjusted to securely hold the arm A on the spring I, immediately over the head-block of the carriage on which it is to be used. As afurther security, the lower part of the arm A is provided with a hole at a for a screw, which may pass into the head-block J At the left side of the armAis shown a bar, G, secured to said arm by bolts H H. The bolt H passes through a slot (shown in dotted lines) in the arm A, and through a bolt-hole at the lower end of the bar G. The bolt H passes through a slot (also shown in dotted lines) in the bar G, and through a hole at the top of the arm A, by which means the bar may slide up or down on'the arm A, for a purpose hereinafter explained, and be held in any desired position by tightening the nut on one of the bolts H H.

When applied to a carriage the arm and bar should be so proportioned as to allow the crossbar of the thills to pass easily over the top of the bar G when the thills are raised, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, so that by sliding the bar G upward it will catch under the cross-bar and hold the thills elevated, as shown.

The weight of the thills will be usuallyfound sufficient to hold the bar G in position; but should it happen to slip down, a turn of the nu}; on either of the bolts H H will securely ho d it.

- If preferred, the bar G may be made longer, 7

and turn on a pivot, instead of sliding, as .in the drawing, so that when the bar G is held horizontally the cross-bar of the thill will pass over it, and when turned back in line with'the arm A the upper end of the bar G will be under the cross-bar of the thills, and securely hold them in an elevated position.

In some cases I propose to connect a spring to the arm-A and bar G, which will hold the latter elevated or a pawl. and ratchet-teeth may be employed for the same purpose.

What I claim as new is- A thill-supporter consisting of an arm, A, having at its lower end the clamping device B, for attachin git to a carriage-sprin g, and at its upper end an adjustable bar, G, for securin g the thills, substantially as described.

WILLIAM SMITH. Witnesses:

THOMAS G. PARKER, JOHN D. MARTIN. 

